Theory and Practice

JOURNAL OF SOCIAL ISSUES VOLUME 34, NUMBER 4, 1978 Theory and Practice Dorwin Cartwright University of Michigan When Kurt Lewin proposed that “there is nothing so practical as a good theory,” he intended to encourage the development of the kind of theory that can be used for the solution of social problems. He believed that such a theory would have to meet three requirements: (a) behavior should be conceived as the product of an interdependent field of determinants, (b) explanatory concepts should refer to the situation as it exists for the individual whose behavior is to be explained, and (c) causes of behavior should be viewed as contemporaneous with behavior itself. Lewin’s adherence to these requirements led him progressively to broaden his conception of the life space to encompass an increasing range of determinants that originate in the social, political, economic, and technological environment. It is argued here that the development of social psychology has, on the contrary, become progressively restricted to processes occurring within individuals and that, as a result, social psychological theory is unable to contribute optimally to the improvement of social practice. I consider it a very great priviledge to have been given this opportunity of adding my tribute to the memory of Kurt Lewin, for he was one of the truly great figures in the history of social psychology. We all share a great indebtedness to people like Lewin who contributed so much to the early development of social psychology and who established the intellectual framework of the discipline as it exists today. We should be grateful to SPSSI for providing an annual occasion of this sort on which we can renew our links with the past. It was my good fortune to have worked with Lewin during the better part of the last decade of his life. And this award has a special significance for me personally since it falls on the fortieth anniversary of my first association with him. When I first met Lewin at the University of Iowa in the Correspondence regarding this article may be addressed to D. Cartwright, 643 Island View Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109. 168 THEORY AND PRACTICE 169 summer of 1938, he had been in this country just five years and was still actively engaged in the process of adapting to American culture. I quickly discovered, however, that for Lewin this was not simply a matter of learning a new language and new customs but that it also constituted a challenge to him as a psychologist, for he saw life as an interdependent whole which could not be compartmentalized into isolated spheres of science and everyday living. He was impressed by the pervasive differences that he observed between Germany and the United States and had already begun a program of research to illuminate their psychological and social significance. He was distressed by the political and social events that had forced him and so many others to leave Germany and was convinced that the developments in the world at large were leading inevitably to war. But despite his gloomy predictions of the immediate future, which unfortunately proved to be remarkably accurate, he remained basically optimistic, since he believed that social psychology, if properly developed, could provide the information and understanding required for the solution of society’s fundamental problems. And he was fully committed to the task of helping social psychology achieve this important objective. In order to understand the nature of Lewin’s thinking about the way in which social psychology can best contribute to the improvement of social practice, it is essential to remember that he was, above all, a theorist and that throughout his career he was primarily concerned with the problem of constructing an empirically based theory of human behavior. But he did not see this commitment to theory as irrelevant to, or in any way incom- patible with, his concern for the solution of social problems. He was convinced that the interests of the theorist and the practitioner are inextricably interrelated, and he was disturbed by the fact that psychologists had come to specialize so completely either in theory or practice that a gulf had developed between those concerned with these two objectives. It was his desire to counteract this separation that motivated his famous assertion that “there is nothing so practical as a good theory.” Over the years, this aphorism has become part of the folklore of social psychology and has often been invoked to provide pragmatic justification for our theoretical activities. But if one is to appreciate the full import of what Lewin had in mind when he made this statement, it is necessary to view it in context, since it was only part of the concluding sentence of a rather complex discussion of the problem of how theory should relate to practice. 170 DORWIN CARTWRIGHT Lewin’s treatment of this problem was premised on the assumption that every field of science must be primarily concerned with theory, since it is theory that illuminates the causal structure of the empirical world. He then observed that, in social psychology, theory does more than advance knowledge, for it also provides the sort of understanding required for the solution of social problems. He then pointed out that if theory is to contribute effectively to the attainment of either of these objectives, it must deal with those variables in society that make a difference. And he proposed that this can best be accomplished by close cooperation between the theorist and the practitioner, since it is through such cooperation that the theorist is kept in close contact with social reality and the practitioner gains a deeper understanding of the nature of the social problems that confront him. And he concluded this discussion with the following observation: [Close cooperation between theoretical and applied psychology] can be accomplished . if the theorist does not look toward applied problems with highbrow aversion or with a fear of social problems, and if the applied psychologist realizes that there is nothing so practical as a good theory. (Lewin, 1951, p. 169) When viewed in context, it is clear that Lewin’s famous statement about the practicality of theory was not intended merely to reassure us as social psychologists that our theoretical efforts have social value. And it was certainly not intended to shift the responsibility for the improvement of social practice from the theorist to the practitioner. Lewin’s essential point was that the theorist and the practitioner share common interests, that they have interdependent tasks, and that it is the special obligation of the theorist to provide the kind of theory that can be used for the solution of social problems. It is therefore somewhat ironical that only his advice to the practitioner should have gained such widespread popularity. Unfortunately, Lewin did not live long enough to develop this line of thinking in much detail, but it is possible from the work he did publish to see in general terms how he intended to proceed. And I would like to draw on this literature, together with my personal association with him during the latter part of his life, to examine the question of what Lewin meant by “good theory” and what he believed is needed to make theory useful. I shall also attempt to indicate some of the implications of his approach for the problems we face today, although I realize, of course, that one can only speculate as to how Lewin might have modified his thinking in the light of subsequent developments. THEORY AND PRACTICE 171 GOODTHEORY: USEFUL THEORY Before Lewin came to the United States, he had been primarily interested in developing a systematic, empirically based theory of individual behavior. His approach to this problem reflects both the influence of the Gestalt movement, which was centered at that time in Berlin, and the work of Ernst Cassirer on the philosophy and history of science. It is perhaps best summarized in his important paper on Aristotelian and Galileian modes of thought in psychology (Lewin, 1935), in which he presented what he considered to be the essential prerequisites for the construction of psychological theory. Lewin believed that behavior should be conceived as the product of two sets of determinants, which he called the person and the psychological environment. And he main- tained that these should be conceived as constituting an interdependent whole. It was this assumption that gave rise to his well-known heuristic equation, B = f(P,E), or in other words, that behavior is a function of the person and the environment. When Lewin turned his attention to social psychology, he assumed that this same approach could be employed to account for the social determinants and consequences of individual and collective behavior. And he devoted the remaining years of his life to the task of extending his field theoretical approach in such a way that it would be capable of dealing with the social determinants of social behavior. If one is to gain a proper understanding of Lewin’s approach to the problem of theory construction in social psychology, it is necessary to understand one fundamental metatheoretical assumption that guided all of his thinking. The most concise statement of this assumption, which he called the principle of concreteness, can be found in a brief passage in his book, Principles of Topological Psychology, in which Lewin wrote as follows: Only what is concrete can have effects. This proposition may seem obvious. But one often ignores it in explaining an event by development, by adaptation . [or] by an abstract drive, and in treating these principles as concrete causes.

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